Washing-machine



A. E. MUELLER.

WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATlON men SEPT.27, 1920.

Patented Nov. 8, 1921.

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YVYVVV VVVVVVVVVV UNITED STATES AUGUSTO E. MUELLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WASHING-MACHIN E.

Application filed September 27, 1920.

To (JZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUsTo E. MUELLER, a citizen of Argentina, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in washing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates in general to clothes washing machines, and more particularly to that type which is customarily equipped with a clothes container in the form of a drum, which is rotated or oscillated to subject the clothes to the cleansing action of the water and suds contained in the washin receptacle.

The clothes containers now on the market are, so far as I am aware, made either of wood or metal and as the container is rotated or oscillated, the water-saturated clothes therein are scraped and ruhbed against the hard sur-faces of the container, with the result that a considerable quantity of the fabric is worn away and destroyed. This wearing of the clothes, while not readily apparent to the eye, has by actual test heen proton to he considerable. and since several ounces of lint and fiber are worn and removed from each batch of clothing at each washing, it will be manifest that repeat-ed washings result in a very material wear upon and depreciation of the clothes.

One of the primary purposes of my present invention is to provide a clothes container which will handle the clothes gently so not to cause any appreciable wear, and with this end in view, I have devised a cylindrical clothes container which, instead of being made of metal or wood, has its circumferential walls formed of a loose mesh textile fabric, which permits a free flow of the water therethrough and does not subject the clothes to any harsh treatment.

Another object of my invention is to provide means whereby the clothes container with the clothes therein may be lifted bodily from the washing receptacle and deposited in a tub or other desired location, thus obviating the necessity of lifting them ont one by one. It will be manifest that by lifting the whole batch of clothes from the receptacle at one time, the receptacle becomes immediately available for another batch of clothes which may be introduced and washed while the first batch is being Specification of Letters Patent! Patented Nov. 8, 1921.

Serial No. 413,083.

rinsed and wrung out. Avery material saving of time is accordingly accomplished, and in addition, the housewife is relieved of heavy lifting and handling of the water soaked clothes.

Other objects and many ofthe inherent advantages of my invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings: V

Figure l is a side elevation of a washing machine embodying my invention;

F g. 2 is an end view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an end view of one form of my improved clothes container;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the container shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view through the container in Figs. 3 and 4:;

Fig. 6 is a transverse view through a drum adapted to receive a modified type of clothes container; and

Fig. 7 is a lonigtudinal, sectional View through the drum of Fig. 6 with the container disposed therein.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail. reference character S designates generally the frame of a washing machine upon which the washing receptacle 9 of any approved or preferred construction is mounted. lVithin the rcceptacle, there is customarily dsposed a clothes container in the form of a metal or Wooden drum, and the machine is equipped with suitable mechanism for rotating or oscillating the drum in the usual manner. Since my invention is applicable to many types of machines already on the market, the mechanism for efvfecting the rotation Or oscillation of the clothes container or drum is not illustrated herein, as it may be of any preferred construction.

Instead of this customary metal or wooden drum, my invention contemplates the employment of a clothes container, one form of which is shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. Inthis embodiment of my invention, the container comprises primarily, a pair of star-shaped end members 11 and 12, preferably made of sheet metal, the opposed apices or points of the star prongs on the respective ends being connected by longitudinally extending slats 13, preferably made of wood. These slats are securely attached at each end to the respective end members and other similar slats 14 are also connected to the end members intermediate the prongs of the star.

Around the perimeter of this star-shaped open cylinder thus constructed, is disposed an open mesh textile fabric 15, which passes over the outer slats 13 and beneath the inner slats 14, forming a substantially star-shaped cylinder or container, as shown in Fig. 5. The rfabric covering 'is held in position by attachingit to ,the end members 11,.and for the purpose of facilitating the attachment and the removal and replacement of the fabric when necessary, I prefer 'to equip each of the star prongs with a hool: 16 disposed upon the outer face of the prong, and preferably stamped out of the body of the metal itself. The fabric is engaged with thesehooks and thereby securely held in position.

It will be apparent that the textile fabric forming the circumferential walls of the container is so supported by the end members and the Connecting members or slats, that a series of radially projecting pockets 'or receptacles are provided, whichextend longitudinally of the container from end to end. The walls of these pockets `being formed of the open mesh textile fabric, permit free access of the washing water to the clothes within the container, and as the container is revolved, the clothes in the lower pockets are moved through the water, which cleanses then, and upwardly withthe container `until they slide out of the pocket by gravity and drop into a succeeding and lower p'ocket of the container.

For the purpose of permitting access to the interior ofthe'container in order that the clothes may be introduced into and removed therefrom, the fabric is divided lon- 19, or provided if'preferred, with stub bearings at its ends, which may be removably associatedwith the driving mechanism of the machine so thatv when the machine is in operation, the container is rotated or oscillated within the washing receptacle, thus subjecting the Clothing to the action of the water and suds, which freely enter and flow through the container, while at the same r time, the clothes are not subjected to any harsh abrasive action as they are in a wooden or metal cylinder, and consequently, the

wear upon and deterioration of the fabric clothes is reduced to a minimum.

In some instances, instead of making the container itself of star cross sectional shape, it may be made cylindrical so asto comprise merely the end rings 21 and 22 to which the fabric covering 23 is secured. The clothes may be put in this container, which is then introduced into a cylindrical drum consisting of the end members 24 and 25 and the longitudinally disposed slats 26 which are triangular in shape, to facilitate entrance of water into the drum as the same is revolved or oscillated. One section of the drum, indicated by reference character 27, is removable to permit access to the container so that it may be introduced into and removed from the drum. In this instance,'the clothes are held in the fabric container, which protects them from the harsh actionof the metal or wooden drum, and at the same time, they are subjected to the cleansingactionof the water as the drum is manipulated.

` Since my inventioncontemplates loading and unloading the clothes container outside the washing receptacle, I have provided means whereby the container with the clothes therein may be lifted bodily out of the washing receptacle, and with this end' in view, I have mounted upon one end of the frame, a Crane consisting of an upright pipe 28 journaled at its lower endin a suitable socket 29 and provided'at its upperiend with a horizontally disposed arm 31 adapted to be swung over the washing receptacle. A cable 32 disposed within the pipe istrained over a roller in the elbow, a roller 33 at the end of the arm 31 and at a point at the end of the machine, it emerges from the pipe and is wound upon a windlass 3.4 equipped with a hand crank 35 and a ratchet of usual construction (not shown). To the end of the cable, there is attached a bar or beam 36, equipped at its ends with swivel .hooks adapted to be engaged either with the cross slats of. the container, or preferably, with the axle or stub shaft 'thereof so that by winding up the windlass, the 'container with the 'clothes therein is lifted bodily from the machine. The a crane may thereupon be sw-ung around so as to deposit the clothes in the rinsing tub, and thereupjon, another container may be introduced into' the machine and the washing continued without interto a minimum, one in which a minimum of "time "is consumed 'in loading and unloading the machine, one which relieves the operator of all the heavy strain of lifting the water soaked clothes.. and one in which the container itself is light to handle and' which can be left outside the machine so as to be thoroughly dried and kept in a sanitary condition.

While I have shown and described preferred embodiments of my invention, it should be apparent that the details of construction are capable of wide variation without departing from the essence of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A rotatable clothes container for washing machines, comprising a pair of end walls, circumferential walls, formed of an open mesh textile fabric detachably attached to said end walls, and a plurality of slats Connecting the end walls at different radial distances from the axis of rotation of the container, said slats being engaged with said fabric to hold the same in non-circular position so as to form a series of radially projecting pockets.

2. A rotatable clothes container for washing machines, comprising a pair of end walls, an open mesh textile fabric forming the circumferential walls of the container and attached at its ends to said end walls, and a plurality of slats extending between said end walls and engaging said fabric to hold the same in position to form a plurality of projecting fabric walled pockets disposed between said end walls.

3. A rotatable clothes container for wash ing machines including end walls of noncircular contour, slats extending between and attached to said end walls at varying radial distances from the axis of rotation thereof, and an open mesh teXtile fabric disposed between and attached to said end walls and held by said slats so as to form in -the circumferential walls of said container a plurality of radially projecting textile walled pockets.

4. A clothes container for washing machines, comprising a pair of star-shaped end members, slats Connecting said members, an open mesh textile fabric engaged with said end members and with said slats, and means for detachably fastenng the slats at the edges of said fabrc so as to permit the removal of the same to provide an opening through which the clothes may be inserted into and removed from said container.

5. In a washing machine, the combination of a washing receptacle adapted to contain washing water, and a clothes container mounted to rotate therein partially submerged in said water, said container comprising end members arranged in spaced relation, circumferential walls of open mesh textile material connected to said end members, and means for holding said textile walls so as to provide a series of longitudinally extending pockets in which the clothes are received and from which said clothes are discharged as said container is rotated, the fabric walls permitting free access of water to the clothes as said clothes are moved through the water upon rotation of said container.

6. In a washing machine, the combination of' a receptacle adapted to contain washing water, and a clothes container rotatably mounted therein, said container comprising circum'erential walls of open mesh textile fabric, and means for supporting said fabric so as to provide a plurality of radially projecting pockets extending longitudinally of the container.

AUGUSTO E. MUELLER. 

